Attis, the reborn eunuch consort of Cybele (Magna Mater)

An Attis cult began around 1250 BCE in Dindymon (today's Murat Dağı of Gediz, Kütahya, Turkey). He was originally a local semi-deity of Phrygia identified as a god of vegetation, associated with the great Phrygian trading city of Pessinos, which lay under the lee of Mount Agdistis. The mountain was actually a deity (daemon) who, in human form, initially bore both male and female attributes. The Olympian gods, fearing Agdistis, cut off the male organ and cast it away whereby Agdistis transformed into the Great Mother Cybele. An almond tree sprouted from the discarded organ, and when its fruit was ripe, Nana, who was a daughter of the river-god Sangarius, picked an almond from it and laid it on her bosom. The almond disappeared, and she became pregnant. As frequently happens in Greek myths, Nana abandoned the baby (Attis), who was subsequently tended by a he-goat. As Attis grew, his long-haired beauty was godlike, and his original progenitor Agdistis as Cybele, then fell in love with him.  (Yes, its sort of another Oedipus-type scenario)

But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the king's daughter. Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Agdistis/Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, and Attis went mad and cut off his genitals. Attis' father-in-law-to-be, the king who was giving his daughter in marriage, followed suit, prefiguring the self-castrating eunuch priests, called Galli by the Romans, who devoted themselves to Cybele. But Agdistis repented and saw to it that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay. His self-mutilation, death and resurrection came to represent the fruits of the earth which die in winter only to rise again in the spring.

Attis is the subject of one of the most famous poems by Catullus, even though at the time, Attis may  not have yet been worshipped in Rome. Cybele, on the other hand, was adopted as Magna Mater since the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) after dire prodigies, including a meteor shower, a failed harvest and famine, seemed to warn of Rome's imminent defeat. The Roman Senate and its religious advisers consulted the Sibylline oracle and decided that Carthage might be defeated if Rome imported the Magna Mater ("Great Mother") of Phrygian Pessinos. 

Most modern scholarship now agrees that Cybele's consort, Attis, and her eunuch Phrygian priests (Galli) would have arrived with the goddess, along with at least some of the wild, ecstatic features of her Greek and Phrygian cults. The histories of her arrival deal with the piety, purity and status of the Romans involved, the success of their religious stratagem, and power of the goddess herself, though. She had no consort or priesthood, and seems fully Romanised from the first. Some modern scholars assume that Attis must have followed much later, or that the Galli, described in later sources as shockingly effeminate and flamboyantly "un-Roman", must have been an unexpected consequence of bringing the goddess in blind obedience to the Sibyl.

Julian the Apostate gives an account of the spread of the orgiastic cult of Cybele in his Oratio 5.  He states the worship of Cybele spread from Anatolia to Greece and eventually to Rome in Republican times, and the cult of Attis, her reborn eunuch consort, accompanied her.

Bust of Attis as a child wearing the Phrygian cap, Parian marble, 2nd century CE, probably during the reign of Hadrian. The portrait bears ressemblance to those of Antinous, Cabinet des Médailles, Paris, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carole Raddato

Statue of a reclining Attis. The Shrine of Attis is situated to the east of the Campus of the Magna Mater in Ostia. In the apse is a plaster cast (the original is in the Vatican Museums) of a statue of a reclining Attis, after the emasculation. In his left hand is a shepherd's crook, in his right hand a pomegranate. His head is crowned with bronze rays of the sun and on his Phrygian cap is a crescent moon. This suggests astrological aspects: Attis was regarded as a solar deity and identified with the moon-god Men. He is leaning on a bust, probably the personification of the river Gallos, where he had died. His posture is reminiscent of river gods (the river Gallos), but the statue also brings to mind sarcophagi, with a depiction of the deceased on the lid. The statue is a dedication by C. Cartilius Euplus. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor archer10 (Dennis)

Taurobolic altar with Cybele and Attis dedicated by Mousonius on May 27, 387 CE at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens courtesy of George E. Koronaios

Silver patera depicting Cybele and Attis thought to date to the period of pagan revival under Julian the Apostate (361-363 CE), now in the Archaeological Museum of Milan courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Terracotta depicting Attis from Tarsus, 1st century BCE now in The Louvre, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen. (white balance adjusted)

Bone plaque depicting Attis armed with a sword and holding a sceptre, inlay from a piece of Roman furniture, 1st - 2nd century CE, found in Egypt now in the British Museum.

Roman relief depicting an emperor (Julian?) making an offering to Cybele and Attis, Museo Ostiense, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko.

 

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Hercules and the Cretan Bull

According to Jeremy McInerney, the iconography of the bull permeates Minoan culture. The cult of the bull was also prominent in southwestern Anatolia. Bernard Clive Dietrich notes that the most important animal in the Neolithic shrines at Çatalhöyük was the bull. The bull was a chthonic animal associated with fertility and vegetation. It figured in cave cults connected with rites for the dead.  

According to Greek myth, to confirm his right to rule, King Minos of Crete prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull as a sign. Poseidon sent Minos the bull, with the understanding that bull would be sacrificed to the god. Deciding that Poseidon's bull was too fine of a specimen to kill, Minos sent the bull to his herds and substituted another, inferior bull for sacrifice. Enraged, Poseidon had Aphrodite cause Pasiphaë, wife of Minos, to fall in love with the bull. She subsequently gave birth to the half-man, half-bull, Minotaur. Poseidon passed on his rage to the bull, causing him lay waste to the land.

As his seventh labor, Heracles was sent to capture the bull by Eurystheus.  Heracles sailed to Crete and King Minos gave Heracles permission to take the bull away as he had been wreaking havoc on Crete by uprooting crops and leveling orchard walls. Heracles captured the bull, and then shipped him to Eurystheus in Tiryns. The bull later broke loose and wandered into Marathon, becoming known as the "Marathonian Bull" who was later captured and sacrificed by Theseus.

McInerney observes that the story of Pasiphaë and the Cretan Bull was not written until after Crete had come under Greek control, however, and despite the fact that the palace at Knossos displays a number of murals depicting young men and women vaulting over a bull, scholars are divided as to whether or not this reflects an actual practice.  There is also no recorded evidence that has been recovered there of any Minoan legend of the famous Cretan Bull or the Minotaur either.

Hercules and the Cretan Bull at Schwerin Castle, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jens Burkhardt-Plückhahn

Heracles fighting the Cretan bull, while a siren perches on a branch. Laconian black-figure kylix in the manner of the Arkesilas Painter, ca. 550 BCE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor ClaireH. (glare removed)

Ivory figure of Hercules capturing the Cretan bull, probably used to decorate a piece of furniture or a box, Roman 1st century CE, ivory, courtesy of the British Museum

Detail of the Mosaic with the Labors of Hercules (Seventh Labour: Cretan Bull), 3rd century AD, found in Llíria (Valencia), National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carole Raddatto

Heracles and the Cretan Bull - a metope from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Greece courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Nicholas Hartmann

Detail of a Roman sarcophagus from Perge, Turkey depicting the capture of the Cretan Bull, 2nd century CE (?) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Mourad Ben Abdallah

Heracles binds the Cretan bull. Attic black-figure amphora in the manner of the Antimenes Painter, ca. 510 BCE From Vulci, Italy at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Bibi Saint-Pol.

Architectural terracotta plaque (so-called Campana plaque) representing Hercules capturing the Cretan bull, 1st half of the 1st century CE, discovered in 1828 in Quadraro (Roma Vecchia), Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Vatican City, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jean-Pol Grandmont

 

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Egalitarianism and Domestic Violence in the Ancient World

 I was searching for additional Etruscan metalwork that incorporated the gorgon motif and came across this rather troubling Etruscan cista handle described by the National Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia as a Greek grasping an Amazon by the hair. I'm not sure why the female is described as an Amazon because she does not appear to be wearing any armor. The male figure was apparently holding something, perhaps a spear and that may be the reason it is thought to be a battle scene between the Greeks and the Amazons since one figure is obviously female.  To my 21st century eyes, however, it just appears to be a scene of domestic violence which I find sharply in contrast to the many forms of Etruscan art in which the relationship of men and women appears to be amicable and egalitarian.

In his treatise, "Etruscan Art", professor Richard De Puma of the University of Iowa points out , "The subject matter may have been adapted from Greek mythology, but the treatment, both iconographically and stylistically, is almost always distinctly Etruscan."

Although Etruscan relationships between men and women have been considered to be much more egalitarian than those between Greek or Roman couples, epigraphic evidence from funerary contexts indicates Etruscan females referred to themselves as the daughter of a father, sec or sech, and the wife of a husband, puia. Conversely, a man was never described as the husband of a particular woman. Hence, Etruscan society was still essentially patrilineal.

According to the Criminal Justice Research Net, an underlying theme in each society which allowed for domestic violence against women and children is patriarchy.  They go on to explain:

"The level of violence overall in a particular society or time period also plays a role in influencing the acceptance of domestic violence. The more violent society is, as fostered by warfare, violent entertainment, crime, and even punishment of criminals, the more violence is accepted in the home. When the societal violence level is combined with patriarchy, women are easily seen as targets for domestic violence."

"The level of violence available for a man to keep order in his home in these ancient societies was certainly greater than that now afforded, but it was based in part on the level of violence available in the general societies of the times. The death penalty was the prescribed punishment for many crimes, even minor ones such as pickpocketing...By comparison, domestic violence was not only acceptable, but a normal form of familial interaction. It was not considered violence at all."

Despite the pleasant presentation of smiling couples on Etruscan urns or sarcophagi, Etruscans were a warrior-based society. The tradition of gladiatorial combat originated in combats to the death performed at Etruscan funerals. So, it should not surprise us if, despite scholarly speculation that Etruscan females enjoyed a more egalitarian existence, domestic violence was also endemic to their culture. 

What I find particularly appalling about this cista handle is this sculpture appeared on an every day container used in a household probably managed by a woman.

I wish I could have obtained a copy of the essay collection "Violence in the ancient and medieval worlds." According to a Bryn Mawr Classical Review of the essay compilation, a chapter by Margherita Carucci entitled "Domestic Violence in Roman Imperial Society: Giving Abused Women a Voice" explores the emotional experiences of Roman women in the early imperial period and draws attention to how ancient women negotiated a phenomenon that clearly formed a large part of Roman social relations. Like many academic texts, it was simply too expensive, though, and not even available in a cheaper Kindle format.

Image: Cista handle depicting a male (Greek?) yanking a female (Amazon?) by the hair, Etruscan, 4th-3rd century BCE at the National Etruscan Museum (Villa Giulia) in Rome, Italy courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko (digitally enhanced)

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Etruscan chariots

 

Silver panel, perhaps from a parade chariot or piece of furniture, overlaid with electrum and decorated in repoussé relief with two riders, perhaps taking part in a horse-race, with a fallen comrade below, Etruscan, 540-520 BCE, found in the Castel San Mariano near the city of Perugia.

Perguia, first called Perusia in the ancient sources, was one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria.  The league was mostly an economic and religious league, or a loose confederation, similar to the Greek states.  The historical Etruscans had achieved a state system of society, with only remnants of the chiefdom and tribal forms used by surrounding Italics. The government was viewed as being a central authority, ruling over all tribal and clan organizations and wielding the power of life and death. The gorgon was revered as an ancient symbol of that power, and frequently appeared as a motif in Etruscan decoration.

The individual referred to as a "fallen comrade" in this Archaic period relief appears to somewhat resemble a gorgon and, as such, may represent the presence of death in such competitions or victory over death. (only my humble opinion, though)

Perusia was not mentioned in the ancient sources until, Q. Fabius Pictor's account, utilized by Livy, of the expedition carried out against the Etruscan League by Fabius Maximus Rullianus in 310 or 309 BCE. At that time a thirty-year indutiae (truce) was agreed upon. However, in 295 BCE Perusia took part in the Third Samnite War.

At the decisive Roman victory at Sentinum, the enemy fielded over 1,000 chariots (although I doubt any of these were plated with silver) along with 60,000 infantry and 40,000 cavalry.  The Roman consuls Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus who commanded the right and Publius Decius Mus who commanded the left were ultimately victorious after Publius Decius decided to devote himself to galvanize the troops. This term refers to a military commander offering prayers to the gods and launching himself into the enemy lines, effectively sacrificing himself, when his troops are in dire straits. His father had done the same at the Battle of Vesuvius (340 BCE). 

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The Mildenhall Treasure

 The Mildenhall Treasure is a large hoard of 34 masterpieces of Roman silver tableware from the fourth century CE, and by far the most valuable Roman objects artistically and by weight of bullion in Britain. It was found at West Row, near Mildenhall, Suffolk, in 1942.  The treasure consists of silver tableware of types current in the 4th century, and was probably concealed at some time in that century. Most of the objects are comparatively large, and all are of very high-quality workmanship.

The hoard consists of two large serving platters, two small decorated serving plates, a deep fluted bowl, a set of four large decorated bowls, two small decorated bowls, two small pedestalled dishes, a deep flanged bowl with a deep, domed cover, five small round ladles with dolphin-shaped handles, and eight long-handled spoons (cochlearia).  

The Great Dish (also known as the Oceanus Dish or as the Neptune Dish, from the face of a sea-god at its centre), which was worked by chasing from the front, is in three concentric zones. In the centre, the head of a marine deity, probably Oceanus, the personification of the ocean, is shown full-face, with a beard made of seaweed and dolphins emerging from his hair. This portrait is surrounded by a narrow inner frieze of decoration populated by nereids (sea-nymphs), tritons and other mythical and natural sea-creatures, while the deep outermost zone carries imagery of the Bacchic thiasos, the dancing, music-making and drinking revels of the god Bacchus. More specifically, the triumph of Bacchus over Hercules is depicted. Hercules is shown staggering drunkenly and supported by two helpful satyrs. Bacchus himself appears with his panther and Silenus at the '12 o'clock' position on the circle in relation to the orientation of the Oceanus head, so that in most illustrations of the dish, he is seen upside-down at the top of the picture. The god Pan also appears in the composition, dancing and brandishing his pan-pipes, as do several dancing Maenads, the female devotees of Bacchus, and satyrs. 

A silver flanged bowl with beaded rim features a scene of a hunter spearing a bear with a tree between the figures and foliage below. The flange is decorated by four scenes separated by busts: the first with a pair of goats and a pair of wild boars with tree and basket between, the second griffins bringing down a horse, flanked by a female bust on the left and a bearded male bust on the right, the third by a pair of recumbent oxen and grazing sheep separated by a tree, the fourth by leopards bringing down a bull flanked by a female bust on the left and a satyr bust on the right.

Another silver flanged bowl contains a central medallion enclosed in a circle of 92 beads, is decorated with a male bust facing left with Corinthian helmet and shield behind the bust; the bust is likely to represent Alexander the Great. The flange is decorated by four scenes separated by busts: the first with a male goat grazing and a pair of sheep, one a ram and the other a female, with a tree between; the second a bear chasing a pair of deer, flanked by a female bust on the left and a bearded male bust on the right; the third by a pair of goats and grazing sheep separated by a tree; the fourth by a bear bringing down a goat and another goat fleeing, separated by a tree, flanked by a female bust on the left and a satyr bust on the right.

I found it interesting that when the Mildenhall Treasure was initially discovered, a number of scholars argued  that the pieces do not properly resemble the style and quality of work expected to be found in provincial Roman Britain, and that since none of the pieces show damage from having been "discovered" with a plough or shovel, there is the possibility that it was not in fact buried at Mildenhall all these centuries, and rather came from somewhere else. Some have suggested the pieces were looted from sites in Italy during World War II, brought back to England and re-buried so as to stage a "discovery", though most scholars give little credit to that theory, and abide by the standard story that the objects were hidden by fleeing Romans who intended to return for them at a later date and never did. The argument that the British province did not have silverware of such high quality has been disproved by a number of subsequent discoveries, including the Hoxne Hoard.

 

The so-called "Great Dish" from the Mildenhall Treasure, 4th century CE, Roman, at the British Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor JMiall.

The so-called "Great Dish" from the Mildenhall Treasure, 4th century CE, Roman, at the British Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor JMiall.

Silver dish from the Mildenhall Treasure decorated with figures of Pan, a nymph, and other mythological creatures, 4th century CE, Roman, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor BabelStone.

Silver flanged bowl containing a central medallion thought to depict Alexander the Great surrounded with scenes of sheep, goats, and bears along with busts of a female and a satyr, part of the Mildenhall treasure, 4th century CE Roman now in the British Museum.

Silver flanged bowl with beaded rim features a scene of a hunter spearing a bear with a tree between the figures and foliage below, part of the Mildenhall treasure, 4th century CE Roman, now in the British Museum.

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